A Look Back at the Biggest Scandals of The Big Game

One Sunday a year, across the Land of the Free, we sink into our most comfortable sofa, prop up our feet on the coffee table, open a bag of Doritos or Nachos or Swedish Fish (Does it really matter?) and watch the most American of events unfold before our eyes.

Of course more often than not, that big event has nothing whatsoever to do with the little brown pigskin orb being tossed and tackled around a field of grass on a cold February night.

As we all know (and love) the best entertainment on Super Bowl Sunday usually takes place off the field. Better than the commercials, better even than the halftime show, are the scandals that inevitably pop up each year around the biggest game of the year.

We all love a good story - and those guys in the NFL never seem to fail us. Chock full of sex, drugs, alcohol and sadly, no shortage of violence, here’s a look back at some of the biggest scandals that have surrounded the Super Bowl.

Betting on a Win

Leonard Ray “Len” Dawson - January 11, 1970 - Super Bowl IV

Scandals are nothing new to the Super Bowl. During the days leading up to Super Bowl IV, back in 1970, quarterback Len Dawson was caught up in a gambling controversy when a well-known football bookie was found with Dawson’s phone number in his little black buck. Lucky for the NFL, Dawson was never arrested and he led the Chiefs to a 23-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings. He even took home the MVP title of the game. Guess his team was the right one to bet on that night!

By the Limelight of the Moon

Jim McMahon - January 26, 1986 - Super Bowl XX

Bears’ Quarterback Jim McMahon was known for his spunky personality and outrageous behavior, but he took his outlandish stunts to a new level during Super Bowl XX when he mooned a helicopter flying overhead. The reporters were trying to get a closer look at McMahon who was recovering from an injury to his now-famous buttocks. Bruises and butts aside, McMahon played well that night and led his team an impressive win over the New England Patriots.

From Walk of Shame to Hall of Fame
Brett Favre - January 26, 1997- Super Bowl XXXI

And you should see him play sober! America’s favorite quarterback, Brett Favre had returned from a 46 day stint in rehab earlier in the season and had publicly confessed to struggling with alcoholism and an addiction to painkillers. We all thought that was behind us, until Game Day during Super Bowl XXXI when the beloved Green Bay lead man was caught partying hard on Bourbon Street. Cameras caught him again just before the game, buckled over and dry heaving beside the field. But maybe that was just his warm up, because drunk or not, Favre was on his game that day! He led the Packers to 35-21 win over New England. The question is - was he too hungover to celebrate the win?

Hold Your Applause

Eugene Robinson - January 31, 1999 - Super Bowl XXXIII

We’re not sure what the criteria are for the “Bart Starr Award for High Moral Character” but we’re pretty confident that soliciting a prostitute isn’t high on the list. And yet Green Bay Packer defenseman Eugene Robinson received the award just hours before he was arrested for hiring a whore. (The woman he picked up was actually an undercover cop.) This made for an awkward situation for the folks over at the Christian organization Athletes in Action who give out the award each year. And while Robinson was back in uniform the next day for Super Bowl XXXIII, his poor defensive performance on the field helped the Bronco’s Rod Smith score a remarkable 80 yard touchdown pass. Robinson’s team, the Atlanta Falcons, lost 19-34.

Getting Away with Murder

Ray Lewis - January 30, 2000 - Super Bowl XXXIV

The night after the Super Bowl in 2000, Baltimore Ravens’ linebacker Ray Lewis celebrated in a most unusual way. He was arrested for his role in the stabbing deaths of two men while out partying with a group of friends in Atlanta, Georgia. The murder charges were eventually dropped when Lewis agreed to testify against his buddies and plead guilty to obstruction to justice. Incredibly, Lewis’s football career continued to soar even after the scandal and the next year he was voted MVP in Super Bowl XXXV when the Ravens beat the Giants 34-7. In a dazzling example of how quickly the American public forgives and forgets, in 2013 Lewis joined the team at ESPN as an NFL contributor.

Cheater Never Always Win

Spygate - Feb 3, 2007 - Super Bowl XXXVI

How did the New England Patriots manage to win 3 Super Bowls in four years? (In 2002, 2004 and 2005) Well - nothing is official but the proud red, white and blue team was accused of videotaping their opponents in both 2002 and 2007. In 2007, Patriots’ Coach, Bill Belichick was fined half a million dollars for filming the New York Jets’ defensive coaches signals. The scandal became widely known as “Spygate” and as details came to light, it was reported that the Pats had also recorded the St. Louis Rams’ practice before Super Bowl XXXVI. The allegations were later rescinded but not before costing the team a $250,000 fine and a first round draft pick.

Barret Robbins - January 26, 2003 - Super Bowl XXXVII

While running is a great asset on the field, when a player makes a run for the border, it never bodes well. Before Super Bowl XXXVII, held in San Diego, Oakland center Barret Robbins headed south to Tijuana. When he returned to his team, he was far too drunk to play in the Big Game and his coaches sent him packing. While Robbins received no shortage of ridicule at the time, the talented player was actually battling with bipolar disorder and depression. Caught again the following season, this time for taking steroids, Barret was dismissed from the team in 2004 after nine seasons with the team.

Overrated Overexposure
February 1, 2004 - Super Bowl XXXVIII

Perhaps the most infamous Super Bowl scandal of all time, Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction,” took place during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII.

The entire hoopla began when Justin Timberlake pulled off a piece of Janet Jackson’s outfit, revealing - for less than a second mind you - part of her breast. (Her nipple, it has oft been noted, was covered by a “pasty” or “nipple shield.”) And that’s where it might have ended.

But the hype that ensued made waves across the country and even the world. “Janet Jackson” became the most searched term in Internet history. The event, also known as “Nipplegate,” even made it to the Supreme Court where CBS fought to reduce the $550,000 fine they had received from the FCC. (The fine was appealed in the end.) YouTube even claims that the most memorable nipple we never saw was a key factor that led to their creation.

Stockpiling Up for the Big Game

Tank Johnson - February 4, 2007 - Super Bowl XLI

One might think that being arrested for owning no less than six illegal guns (including two assault rifles) is grounds for a major penalty from the NFL, let alone from the police. Might the head honchos over at the NFL be concerned that such a person could struggle to handle their aggression or display a proclivity towards violence? Nah… when it comes to the Super Bowl, only one thing matters: winning.

Thus, it should come as no surprise that in Super Bowl XLI, Tank Johnson, the Chicago Bears’ defensive lineman, was granted special permission to leave the state to play in the Big Game. After all, in America football is the king of sports, and nothing will stand in the way of our Perfect Super Bowl Sunday.

Some credit is due to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, however, for eventually slapping Johnson with an eight game suspension. Not that any of those games happened to be the Super Bowl.

By the way, did we mention this was Johnson’s third arrest?

Super-Sized in Silhouette

Prince - February 4, 2007 - Super Bowl XLI

Prince gave fans the real royal treatment during the halftime show of Super Bowl XLI. As he rocked out during his guitar solo playing Purple Rain, his silhouette was projected against a curtain. The result was a pretty goofy looking rocker with an odd shaped and oblong protrusion in just the right place. Reactions ranged from disgusted to amused. Want to judge for yourself?

Can We See That On Instant Replay?
February 1, 2009 - Super Bowl XLIII

With all the hacking going on in the past few weeks, we may have forgotten that this isn’t the first time that our proud land has been scandalized by malicious hackers. Back in 2009, in the midst of the fourth quarter during a close game between the Steelers and the Cardinals, some Arizona ComCast customers saw a far more exciting play unfold - that is, if a frontal shot of a naked man is your thing. For a full 30 seconds, viewers in Tucson saw footage from a porn channel rather than the game itself. As an apology, customers were given a $10 credit. You wanna guess how many of them used it to buy porn?

“What So Proudly We Watched…”

Christina - February 6, 2011 - Super Bowl XLV

One of the lighter incidents in Super Bowl scandal lore, we all had a good laugh at Christina Aguilera’s expense after her botched performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” during Super Bowl XLV. Aguilera must have been thinking of watching the Big Game when she sang, “What so proudly we watched” instead of “O’er the ramparts we watched…” But ya gotta give this lady credit. While she may not know all the words, she sure can hit those notes!

Lights! Camera! Wait… where did the lights go?

February 3, 2013 - Super Bowl XLVII

Super Bowl XLVII dragged on a little longer than the average game. Why? Because during the third quarter, the New Orleans Superdome went lights out. Ironically, the power outage was caused by a relay device designed specifically to prevent power outages. As TV screens went dark, viewers went running to their phones and iPads, handing social media a big win on this unusual Super Bowl Sunday. The 34-minute power outage almost gave the trailing 49ers enough chance to recharge and recover from a 22 point deficit, but in the end they lost by just 4 points to the Ravens.

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With Super Bowl XLIX right around the corner, anticipation is growing as we wonder what fiascos await! Then again, given the gravity of the scandals that the NFL already faced in 2014, everyone might be on their best behavior come February 1. That means this year, we might have to settle for actually watching the game.